SC bench refers law books publishing, printing case to CJP for formation of special bench

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja on Thursday referred the publishing and printing of law books case to the Chief Justice of Pakistan for the formation of Special Bench and adjourned hearing of the case till January 28.

The three-member bench headed by Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja comprising Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan and Justice Faez Isa Qazi resumed hearing of the case. The bench observed that the rules should be printed in easy reading so that the masses could understand them easily. Names of banned organizations should be published in all regional languages including Urdu and English, the bench remarked. During the course of proceedings, Federal Secretary for Law and all four provincial secretaries of law submitted separate affidavits and ensured the court over the printing and publishing of law books in different dates.

The court observed that the misprinting and wrong printing of law books is a serious concern and the court would not compromise on it.

Additional Secretary of Law Punjab Mohsin Shah told the bench that the printing and publishing of law books is a sensitive issue and he had a meeting with the concerned officials of Sindh and Balochistan.

Justice Faez Isa remarked that Electoral Rules did not exist anywhere and asked that if a foreign journalist comes here to cover elections then from where he/she will get that Rules.

Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja asked that how an uneducated candidate would find electoral rules as Election Rules are printed on the name of "Representation of People's Act."

On a court query, a member of Press Association of Supreme Court told the bench that he found banned organizations list from Google. He said that the list was not available on any website related to the government. He said that National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) website is also not available. The names of banned organization were also not present on the website of Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, he added.